She Met Him When Walking the Dog
by MissShadowBolt
Summary: It was just another Sunday for 19 year old Sally Jackson, that is, until a blue box ate Mister Tibbles.
1. Dog Walking and Monster Sightings

Sally glanced down for maybe the hundredth time at the thin sheet of paper clutched in her hands. The address said 'Apartment Number 13, ask for Suzanne.' Her brow wrinkled in a frown as she looked between door 12 and door 14. Maybe she had the wrong building? Or maybe…it was the mist?

Experimentally, she broadened her shoulders and intently stared at the wall between the two doors. She focused and slowly the doors began to move apart, slowly, a hidden door came into her view as she mentally tore apart the veil. It was different than the other doors. Where the surrounding doors were painted purple and had brass knobs, this one was painted pitch black with a knob made from rusted silver, the wood was thinning and worn and the paint was peeled. Sally drew in a ragged breath, feeling her blood chill. She knew in that instant that the door presented a test. A test she was determined to fail.

She stepped back, blinking several times in attempt to dispel the image, and she watched as the door faded into nonexistence. Leaving only doors 12 and 14 in its place.

Next came the act. She was good at acting, mostly. She put on a rather confused face, looking between doors 12 and 14. She glanced at the paper, then back again at the door. "Hello?" She called, "Suzanne?" She blinked, then shrugged beginning to walk away, but behind her, she heard the creaking sound of an old door opening. She turned and saw quite clearly, a tall skinny woman with three glowing blue eyes on her face and a form fitting silk dress draped around her. The woman was glaring at Sally.

Sally smiled, attempting to keep the nervousness out of her voice "Oh hello," She said happily to the women, "You must be Suzanne, I've come to walk your dog. You called me last night." Sally worked two jobs most of the week, but by some coincidence, they both offered Sundays as an off day. This left Sally walking dogs and sweeping sidewalks and babysitting on Sundays. It was the only way she could pay the bills.

The women scowled, "You failed the test mortal." She informed. "They told us that you could see through the mist."

Sally laughed, although I was a timid laugh "No I haven't seen it yet." She grinned, "I'm waiting for a re-run to play, fell asleep before it came on. So, no spoilers for me thanks. Now, where's the dog?" She said the words obliviously, trying not to show how much she was dreading the idea of the creature seeing through her game.

The lady shook her head muttering something about disgusting mortals. Then she said, quite clearly, "We no longer require your services, leave."

Sally frowned, "Um, okay then." She shrugged, "have a nice day." She turned on her heel and casually walked away, when she heard the door close, she picked up a run, darting around the block and stopping at the street corner taking long steadying breaths. "It' not real." She muttered to herself. She shook her head, "Never real never real." She said the words firmly, forcing herself to believe.

She had always had these 'delusions' as her late uncle had put it. Ever since she was a kid. When she was younger, she tried to interact with the monsters that she saw. Once she had even accused the lunch lady of being a giant bat in disguise in front of several teachers. She had gotten detention for a week, but to this day she swears that the lunch lady had long leathery wings.

Once she had calmed herself, she glanced down at her scrap paper with the names and addresses of her clients. Then she set off down the street in search of her next job, it would be her last for the day, which was a relief, as the sun was beginning to go down. She pulled her limp hoodie around her to fend off the chill in the air. Autumn was coming, and so was the cold. She didn't much mind the cold, but she preferred the summer, times where it was warm enough to go for a swim or a boat ride. She occupied herself with thoughts of the sea as she weaved through the busy pedestrians on the sidewalk.

The next address wasn't too far away, just a small apartment a few blocks away from the monsters, no, rude lady's home. She found the apartment number and knocked on the door and a slightly chubby man answered. He wore a pair of bellbottom jeans and a white 'I heart NY' tank top. He smelled of booze and beef jerky. He swayed, Sally noted the half empty bottle of beer in his hand. Beyond the man Sally could hear a blaring radio playing far too loud country music.

"Hello little lady," The man said with a hint of a southern accent, "My names ted." He leaned on the door frame and gave the sally a drunk smile.

Sally kept her distance, "Uh huh," Sally said glancing once more at the paper, "I'm looking for a Miss Lizzy. I'm here to walk the dog."

"Riiiight," The man slurred, "Aunt Lizzy, the dog walkers here!"

Frantic footsteps were heard bustling down a hallway. "Oh good!" An elderly voice chided. A women appeared at the door, she looked to be about seventy years old. She wore huge wide rimmed glasses and a long flowing denim skirt that reminded Sally of a gypsy. Her shirt was baggy and tie-dyed. In her arms she cradled a small beagle puppy who was contently snoozing.

"Hello." Sally said politely.

"Oh hello, welcome dear!" The women exclaimed, pushing Ted back into the apartment and handing the beagle over to Sally. "This is Mister Tibbles." She informed before grabbing a leash that was hanging by the door and giving it to Sally. "Don't go too far from here," She went on, "and for lord's sake try not to drop the leash, my Tibbly is a runner. Have 'em back in an hour, no longer, alright?"

"Yes ma'am." Sally said respectfully clicking the leash onto the now grumpy puppy's collar and placing him down on the ground.

The lady smiled, thanked Sally, and then closed the door.

Sally sighed as she took once more to the streets of New York. "Come on then Tibbles." She muttered.

Sally and Mister Tibbles ended up at a dog park nearby. It was bustling with people and other puppy dogs. Mister Tibbles seemed to like the place. He insisted on sniffing everything, occasionally he would find a particularly good smell and chase it for a while, barking and howling loudly as he did. Well, as loud as a small puppy could manage.

At one point he caught a sniff that particularly interested him, he dug his nose to the ground intently and led Sally about the park. Whatever he was smelling, he wanted it dead, as his curious yapping turned to growling hate. Sally was somewhat amused by the puppy's antics and allowed herself to be towed along.

Tibbles followed the trail to a man. He was a cop who was patrolling the area. Tibbles jumped at the cop as if he were a feral beast intent on taking down a long standing enemy. Safe to say that the cop was amused.

"Oh hey little guy," The cop laughed bending down to pet the little monster who was currently attempting to strangle his shoe. "Aren't you a cutie?" The cop asked.

Tibbles just kept trying to murder the cop, managing to bite at his gloved hand.

"Aww, is he teething?" The guard asked, looking up at Sally.

"Um," Sally said, "I don't really know, I'm just walking him." Sally gave a nervous smile looking at the man. But then, Sally felt a rush of terror. The cop, he was pale, deathly pale. She could see faintly his eyes behind his sunglasses, was he…was he wearing sunglasses? No. He wasn't. It was his eyes, two black holes in his skull burning with a faint red glow.

Sally shivered, then slowly backed away, giving the strange man a small good bye then turning and walking away as fast as possible without drawing suspicion. "Not real." She told herself, closing her eyes tightly, "Not real, never real. Just…just delusions." She pulled the dog along with her as she slowly convinced herself that the man wasn't a soulless skeleton, just a pale cop with sunglasses. As she force fed herself the truth, she bumped into somebody. He was no one in particular, just some kid with…a sword? No. It was a stick. Just a stick. The kid apologized than ran off, he was heading for the cop.

Sally sucked in a painful breath, resolving that this time, she wouldn't watch. Then she pulled on the leash, only to find, that it was lighter than before. Tibbles had slipped his collar. She spun on her heel, her eyes landing on the escaping shape of the small dog, it was running for the exit.

"Crapcrapcrapcrap," She said running at full speed to and weaving through the mass of people, trying to keep her eyes on the running mutt. The dog dived out of the dog park and ran down the side walk, yapping excitedly as he ran. Sally followed. Soon the dog pulled a hard left, diving into an ally, Sally skidded, then turned the corner, and she saw the small dog at the end of the ally. In front of the beagle was a large brick wall, and behind him the creeping figure of Sally trying to capture the beast. Sally treaded lightly. She didn't want to scare the pooch, nor convince him that the two were indeed playing a game of chase, thus encouraging the dog to run faster. She just walked to him slowly.

That slowness was dearly paid for. A loud whooshing sound filled the streets, in front of Sally, a blue box fading was in and out of existence. Sally backed up quickly as the box appeared, noting that the form of the small dog seemed to phase into the box. Then in an instant, the whooshing ceased. Now it was just Sally and the box facing off in the ally.

Sally gazed at the blue box. It had just eaten Mister Tibbles! She gulped, "alright," She whispered to herself, "Delusion or not, I need to get the dog back." The girl cleared her throat and stepped up to the strange blue box.

"Okay," She began, voice ringing with as much authority as she could muster, which wasn't a lot. "I can see you." She informed he box, "And, there's probably a reason for that. A good reason." She clarified, "Now, mister or miss," She squinted at the sign on the box, barely making out the words in the dim light of the ally, "Police public call box," She went on, "you need to spit out my clients dog. Right now." She stomped her foot and pointed at the ground.

Mister or miss police public call box failed to respond.

"Now." Sally said again. Not knowing what else to do, she crossed her arms and glared daggers at the box.

The box, once more, failed to respond.

Sally sighed, "Am I really about to do this?" She asked herself. Then, she took a few hesitant steps forward, and grabbed the handle of the call box, and swung the door open. It opened with no trouble, which made her suspiciously jump backwards.

She didn't have long to observe the interior of the box, as soon she was meant with a smiling face, a man who was in the box. "Oh hello," The man grinned at her, an English accent present in his voice. "I'm the Doctor." He said, adjusting his bowtie and beaming at the girl. He was interrupted from further introductions, as Mister Tibbles ran up to the 'Doctor' and began barking contently up at him. Mister Tibbles began climbing at his leg, signaling that he wanted up. The man laughed, "Is this your dog?" He asked Sally.

**AN**

**Ha, ha! Writers block is no match for me! I hope anyone who read this at least somewhat liked this. There aren't enough stories where Sally is the Doctor's companion, I feel that the idea could be used in extremely epic ways. This is a bit of a rewrite from a story I posted earlier today. It was pretty sloppy, but I think I managed to clean it up a bit. Tell me what you think, if you, you know, feel like it. Also, 10,000 internet cakes will be awarded to you if you can pin point this chapters obscure reference. (Pst, it's to the HP books)**

**Thanks for reading, lots of love;**

**Missshadowbolt**


	2. Curiosity and Fear

Sally was at loss for words, she watched as the strange bowtied man scooped up the small dog and scratch behind the beagles's ears. Mister Tibbles gave a small yap, and the man raised his brow, "Monsters huh?" He asked the dog, amusement in his voice, "That's a bit farfetched isn't it?" The dog yapped once more, and the Doctor laughed, "Whatever you say,"

Sally opened her mouth to demand why the man was talking to the dog, then her mouth snapped closed as she saw what was behind the man, his box, it was huge! The inside was bright and warm compared to the autumn twilight, there was a huge control panel in the center of a massive space that glowed and beeped, she could hear a soft hum emanate off the box. It was like there was an entire universe in there! It was impossible.

With wide eyes, she shook her head, then did a lap around the box and the strange man (who was now absorbed in conversation with the beagle). After making a full circle to prove to herself that the box was in fact small with a massive room inside, she returned to the door and poked her head in, looking into what seemed to be a vast sort of control room you'd see in a sci-fi , took a step past the man into the box.

This caught the man's attention, "Oh, I'm sorry, hello." The Doctor grinned, ending his conversation and stepping in front of her to stop the girl. "Is something the matter?" He asked in an innocent, and strangely smug tone.

Sally shook her head, "Y, your box…" She trailed, still looking behind The Doctor and trying to process what she was seeing. As far as she could tell the room wasn't shrouded by the mist. It just, was there, existing for all to see, she couldn't feel the familiar pull of the magic trying to hide the box from her mortal eyes. That went against everything she knew. She blinked like she had with the doors, trying to dispel the image, but what she saw was still impossible.

The man cocked his head, the beagle in his arms mimicked the motion, "Yes…" He prompted.

Sally took a steadying breath, "It's, it's, well, it's bigger on the inside!" She said, gesturing to the impossible thing before her.

Her words seemed to amuse the strange man, "Oh really?" He beamed, "I haven't noticed. Would you like to come in? It looks cold outside. We can have tea."

The small dog he held licked at the Doctor's face, and the Doctor laughed before handing Mister Tibbles back to Sally, "Or you could head home, it's all the same to me." He informed, helping the beagle into Sally's arms.

Sally felt the weight of the small squirming beast against her and yet again, she felt herself presented with a test. All of this could be in her mind, maybe her delusions were simply reaching out to her in the form of a strange man with an impossible box. Maybe they had finally decided, or she had finally decide rather, to get lost in a fantasy. This was just her dream extending its hand, beckoning for her to loose herself in madness. Maybe nothing was really real. If this was just some sort of dream, than accepting the man's invite for tea wouldn't hurt anything but her sanity. She could do it.

But on the flip side, maybe this was all real. But if that was true than this strange man was undoubtedly a test. Or a trap. Probably a trap. Or maybe it was luck, utter and complete luck that this man had found her. She could ask him about all of the strange and crazy things in her life, she could finally learn the truth. She shook her head, taking to biting at her nails and tapping her foot as she considered her pros and cons.

She never much liked having to weigh pros and cons, she always seemed to make the wrong choice anyway. She nearly decided to just leave, but…she didn't. This man seemed different than the other strange beings she had met, not suspicious, tricky, or angry like the monsters she had seen before. And not indifferent to her either, like the strange kids with swords and curved wands that she ran into on occasion. This man seemed warm…and she couldn't quite place why. He seemed like someone she could trust. This was odd, she hadn't trusted someone for a long time.

Apparently she was considering her options for far too long, because the man waved his hand in front of her face, "You still with me?" He asked.

Sally, who was a bit lost in thought, nodded.

The man shifted awkwardly, "Soooo, tea?" He followed up.

Sally didn't know what compelled her, but she choked out one word in response, "Sure."

"Great!" The bowtied man clapped his hands together and turned on his heel, "Come on than miss…" He started.

She followed the man into the police box, noting that the inside of the box was warmer than the cold alleyway outside, "Sally." She supplied. "Sally Jackson. You say you're the Doctor, Doctor who?"

"Just the Doctor!" The man grinned, "Nice to meet you Miss Jackson!" He snapped his fingers and the door shut closed behind the pair.

Sally bit her lip at this, alarm bells going off in her head, but stayed where she was, "This way than." The Doctor said, leading her into a long hallway that branched off from the control room. Sally held the small puppy close as she entered the hall, it was metal, a little dark, and a bit scary. Following wasn't perhaps wasn't the best idea. A part of her told her to bolt, but she steeled her nerves and followed the man, curiosity winning out over an urge to run. Her eyes scanned the hall taking in every detail of the impossible interior.

Nineteen years of oddity and intrigue, and this was probably the strangest thing young Sally Jackson had ever done, and it was definitely the most reckless. But little did she know, that her strange and reckless life had only just begun with her few hesitant steps into the blue box.

**XxX Authors Note XxX**

**Obscure reference hunt**

**Alright, last chapter, approximately 0 people found my obscure out-of-series reference! In case you were dying to know, the reference was simple, Mister Tibbles was the name of a cat owned by Mrs. Figg from the Harry Potter books! Better luck next time friends. I have a reference hidden in this chapter too, it's from another book series written by Rick Riordan. 20,000 interweb hugs! to anyone who can find it! Good luck!**

**Replies to my fan mail**

**Anon: Thank you! That's very kind of you to say! I'll keep posting. :)**

**Bricasha Zacoram: Thank you! Yes, this is about Percy's mom. She's 19 years old, and has not met Poseidon yet. She will though, we'll get there. ;) I'll write more.**

**Kimmie: Thanks! She's 19, still a kid, still kind of scared. I'm glad you like it, I'll continue.**

**LeoNicoFangirl: Heehee, Percy Leo or Nico may play a part (especially Nico, lol). Sally's still years away from knowing any them, but time doesn't much matter in the TARDIS. Imagine the look on Percy's face when his teenage mom shows up and she's all like, *Hiding words for spoilers* ha! Priceless! But bottom line, it's gonna be great!**

**And to everyone who's reading this: You guys rock! Thank you, I love you all! I'm glad you've joined me and Sally, and the Doctor and Mister Tibbles for this journey. I hope to hear from you in the comments below.**


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